It's Raining, It's Pouring
by IceFireNeko
Summary: Drip. Drop. Splash! As the storm rages on, let's just say that Natsume Hyuuga does not like rainy days... ONESHOT NxM fluff :3
**A/N: It seems pretty fitting that I'm publishing this story on a rainy day, isn't it?**

 **Hello! My friend crimsoncitrus (go check her out!) and I challenged each other to a "Write a One-shot in 24 hours", and now I challenge everyone who's reading this right now to do this challenge too! :D**

 **Okay technically I wrote it in 24 hours and then I had some awesome people beta-read this...**

 **That's enough talking for now. Here's a fluffy oneshot, enjoy!**

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 **On stormy days, rain descends like tears, as if the heavens themselves were in mourning...**

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Natsume Hyuuga hates rain.

Not because he's scared of it. No, he's used to the darkness that previously surrounded him years ago. The storm outside was nothing compared to the firestorm he knew he could summon, even though it would cost him his life. Lightning and thunder didn't trouble him in the least, as long as it didn't interfere with any of his activities.

Nonetheless, the wet storms were irritating. The water falling from the heavens could easily douse his Alice in a matter of seconds. He felt unnaturally vulnerable, irked that one mere storm was enough to prevent him from being of any assistance to his friends.

Natsume shifted in his seat as he slouched on the old, olive couch, staring out the window. The shadows on the wall danced as the flush mount fixture, the only source of light in the living room of his apartment, flickered for a couple of seconds before resuming its steady glow.

That feeling wasn't the only thing that bothered him. The constant tireless tap of rain on the roof. The ceaseless cold that threatened to chill the room if he didn't leave the heater on. The depressing mood that always came with this weather. The-

A loud knocking interrupted his list of grievances. As he opened the door, a bright orange soaking ball of energy burst in, and he barely managed to sidestep out of the way.

"Natsume! I managed to make it to your house early!" Mikan Sakura proudly stated, carefully placing her umbrella next to the door before engulfing him in one of her signature warm hugs.

Except this hug was cold. And wet. And soaking both Natsume's sweater and floor.

"Oi, you're getting me all wet!" He pushed her off. "And take off your raincoat and boots! You're dripping water everywhere!" Crimson eyes glared down at the puddle slowly forming around her in distaste. "What are you even doing here twenty minutes early?"

She ignored the irritation in his voice. "It's so fun out there! The rain feels so refreshing and you should see the size of the puddles out there! Come outside, Natsume." The cheerful brunette took off her glossy coat, hanging it on one of the coat hooks near the entrance. She paused as she looked around the dim room, frowning at the lone ceiling light above. "Why is your apartment this dark? Shouldn't you add a few lights around here?"

"You still haven't answered my question." However, his sharp tone was betrayed by the gentle look in his eyes as he gazed down at the girl standing in front of him. Natsume noticed that her hair was down, a rare occurrence that accented her tawny eyes more than usual, and her cheeks were rosy from the cold. The single light bulb created a golden silhouette around her figure.

"Well, the weather forecast said there would be a big storm in the evening, so I made sure to leave my house half an hour early!" She seemed extremely pleased with herself for not being late, like the last few times they've held a study session at his house.

 _And to get a much needed head start on studying,_ Natsume noted, raising an eyebrow at her as he made his way to another room where a stout wooden table awaited them. "Did you tell the others? They were all planning to meet here for the study session."

"Oh, I forgot." Mikan hurriedly put her black school bag beside the table and plopped down on a fluffy, light pink zabuton. She reached into her bag, pulled out a polka dotted flip phone adorned with an adorable scarlet strawberry keychain, and proceeded to call her closest friend. "Eh? Hotaru's not answering." She frowned, but it wasn't unusual for the busy inventor to not pick up, although the rejection usually occurred after Mikan had called dozens of times in a row. Next, she dialed Ruka, giggling a little at the contact picture she had set for him after receiving it from Hotaru.

The dark-haired teen had seated himself on the maroon zabuton across from his girlfriend, and contented himself with staring at her as she pouted after Ruka's voice message system popped up. Her auburn hair was still damp from the precipitation, so it reflected the artificial light, creating a certain enchanting gleam to it. His eyes absentmindedly drifted to her hazel ones, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she called Sumire. His gaze slowly traveled down to her soft lips, imagining what he'd do if-

"Hi, Permy!" Mikan exclaimed, relieved that someone finally answered her call. "I just wanted to warn you that there's a storm out here that's starting to grow, so you should come as soon as you can. Oh, and could you tell the others that- they're with you?" Mikan paused as she listened to the other end. "A flood? It's that bad already?"

Natsume abruptly got up to his feet, his eyes widening, a thousand possible scenarios already surging through his mind. "What did they say-?"

"Shhh." Mikan put her finger to her lips to silence the Hyuuga. He reluctantly sat back down, but leaned closer as Mikan continued to converse. "So you won't be able to come tonight? Awww.. but- Hello?" Her eyes widened all of the sudden, and she pressed her ear closer to the speaker. "Hellooo? What's happening? Can you hear me?" She took her phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. "That's weird. No signal…"

"So? What happened?" Natsume asked, still irritated that he had been shushed by her. He took out his own midnight blue cellphone. "There's no signal for mine either."

"I don't know… there was suddenly static, and Permy said something about lightning before I lost contact. I think the storm is worse than we thought." Mikan turned towards him, biting her lower lip in worry, as he got up.

"Let's just check the news then." He made his way into the living room, and grabbed the remote on the couch. He switched the TV on while Mikan flopped down onto the cushions, taking a pillow and hugging it close to her chest.

A reporter showed up on the screen; his voice nearly drowned out by the heavy downpour. "Stay inside, folks. Massive thunderstorms are headed this way, so expect flooding near valleys. Meteorologists are detecting a particularly strong cold front headed this way, and-"

The television blinked out. As did all of the lights in the apartment. There was a brief moment of silence before one could hear a muffled squeak of shock from Mikan and colorful language from Natsume.

"Well, I'm not going home anytime soon, am I?"

The living room was promptly illuminated by a small flame in the palm of Natsume's hand. It reflected his eyes and created strange shadows across his face.

"Hey!" Mikan protested, rushing over to him and nullifying the small burst of fire. "Don't do that!"

"Well, we have to see somehow, don't we?" Natsume argued, facing her faint outline in the dark room.

"Not with your fire." Mikan stubbornly countered. She took out her cellphone to use its luminescence as light. "Here, we can use this." As soon as she spoke, the screen faded to black. "Ah! I forgot to charge it last night!"

"Idiot." Natsume sighed, opening his own phone. It glowed for a few seconds, then the battery went dead, diffusing the sole light source. _Crap, Koko was playing on it during class today..._

The sound of trickling water was amplified by the dark silence.

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

"Who's the idiot now?"

"Shut up."

In the end, she allowed him to briefly use his Alice in order to light the few candles that he possessed around the apartment. (Because of course, Natsume Hyuuga did not own any lighters, flashlights, or anything of the sort.)

The rain pounded more persistently on the roof, and the temperature of the room started to drop. The moon was smothered in clouds, unable to shine any light through the thick layer. They both sat in silence on the opposite ends of the sofa, each huddled underneath a few blankets that Natsume had somehow managed to find in the gloom.

A small sigh escaped from the brunette as she hugged her arms around her legs. "...Natsume?"

No answer.

"I'm bored."

A small grunt.

Her unfocused gaze swept across the dim room. It rested on a candle, the small blaze swaying in an invisible breeze as it shortened the life of the molded wax, little by little, drip by drip, just like a certain person with a Dangerous Ability Alice- Mikan shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about this now. Besides, it was probably the dismal mood that was getting to her. Instead, she brightly called out. "Ooh, I know! Let's make s'mores with this fire. Where do you keep the graham crackers?"

"I don't have any."

"Marshmallows?"

"Nope."

"...Chocolate?"

Silence.

 _Of course he doesn't have chocolate,_ Mikan huffed, _He doesn't even like sweet things._

A blanket of awkward quietude settled over the two of them. Mikan squirmed, not used to the quiet hush. "Natsume, I'm still cold."

"Get some more blankets."

"There aren't any more."

A couple of sheets were tossed onto her head. A muffled 'Hey!' was heard underneath the layers of fabric. The brunette struggled to untangle herself from the pile, and turned towards Natsume. She could hardly make him out, but through the dim glow of candlelight, she saw that he wasn't covered in blankets. In fact, it seemed as though he didn't have any whatsoever, as he lay on the couch, his eyes shut.

Mikan knew that Natsume was actually a sweet person on the inside, but his pride prevented him from showing that side of him. She quietly inched towards the raven-haired guy, and prepared to toss the pile of blankets onto him.

Without warning, thunder boomed across the sky, startling a small sound from her lips. She paused expectantly, but the bright streak of lightning still made her flinch as the bolt made a white outline along the landscape outdoors. It took the girl a few seconds to calm her rapid heartbeat, and she nervously glanced towards the heavens as if fearfully anticipating the imminent flash. Her trembling hands gripped the edge of the fabric, pulling it closer towards her head.

She thought it must've been the cold getting to her, but Mikan was shivering as she sat under the mountain of blankets.

Mikan knew it was all in her head. She knew that the thunder was just sound, that it couldn't hurt her in any way. She knew that she couldn't get struck by lightning as long as she stayed inside. She _knew_ , but that didn't mean the destructive force wouldn't send cold shivers down her spine every time she imagined the powerful strike blasting a hole through the Earth.

She knew her fear was ridiculous, childish even. So for the longest time, Mikan held in her fear in order to cheer other people up. This was the first time that she'd expressed her fright in a while. And for some reason, she didn't regret it.

Natsume leaned back, arms behind his head as he observed the brunette. He had noticed her coming closer the whole time, and watched as she quivered, nearly in tears after the thunder and lightning.

She was scared, wasn't she?

He got up, stretching his muscles stiff from staying in one position for a long time.

"Where're you going?" Mikan called out.

"I'll be back." Was his short reply before he headed out into the other room.

Mikan sat, warily eyeing the darkness as it swallowed him up. She closed her eyes, trying to think about all the happy things she had in an effort to distract herself. She had great friends. A nice university. A caring boyfriend. A-

A noise spooked her, and she quickly buried herself under the covers. When she peeked out moments later, Natsume stood in front of her with a chocolate bar in his hands.

"This's all I have." He offered half of it to her, an offer she couldn't refuse. Within moments, the chocolate that she'd been planning to nibble on was gone. Even though the chocolate was fairly dark, she didn't care as she licked each of her fingers, happily savoring the rich sweetness.

Natsume plopped down beside Mikan, tilting the cushion (and her) towards him. He casually inched closer, diverting Mikan's attention from the winds that were now howling outside. With a tug of his hand, he lifted the corner of the blankets over himself. "Hey, don't be selfish and hog all the blankets to yourself," he told her in a serious deadpan voice, all the while shifting closer to her.

She was still trembling, but a small smile played on her lips. "You were the one that tossed them onto me in the first place," she protested, grabbing the front of his sweater and snuggling against his warm chest.

"But you were the one that asked me to." His voice had softened to a whisper now as he draped a protective arm over her.

"Hehe."

His thumb brushed off stray chocolate crumbs from her face, but instead of licking it off his finger, he gently rubbed it onto her forehead. He proceeded to kiss the sweet candy off her soft skin, savoring the close contact as her smooth hair tickled his nose. If not for the inky night, one would have noticed the heat clambering up her cheeks.

She closed her eyes, but they snapped open as another round of thunder shook the skies. Natsume felt her grip on his dark magenta sweater tighten as the white light that followed brighten up the world for a split second.

"Hey, calm down." He pulled her closer to him, feeling her quickened pulse pumping. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little storm."

"I don't want to talk about it." Her response was muffled as she buried her rosy face deeper into his chest, taking comfort in his familiar cinnamon scent. He smirked as they shared each other's warmth, huddled under the bundle of blankets to escape the chill.

Maybe rain wasn't so bad after all.

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… **but at the end of every dark tempest, a ray of sunlit hope shines onto a colorful spectrum of light, revealing a new day.**

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 **A/N: Chocolate :3**

 **That was fun to write! Thanks to everyone who read this one-shot, and leave a favorite or follow if you really enjoyed it. ^-^ For now, here's a little extra that didn't get included.**

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"Natsume?"

"What?"

"Do you have an electric kotatsu?"

"Yes…"

"Do you want to use that?"

"Not right now."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to move." _You're here. That's all I need._

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Japanese 'Terms':

Zabuton- japanese sitting cushion

Kotatsu- Low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself. (Source: Wikipedia)


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